From 12:30 pm on Saturday, Crystal Palace and Arsenal meet at Selhurst Park in a London derby with a definite favorite. Mikel Arteta’s “Tunes” have a lot more value than Roy Hodgson and the Reds should win this away game, from the 22nd stage of the English Championship. The hosts have big batch problems, while the guests come with the best “11” in the match, excepting Bellerin. I have seen a lot of show in this direct duel, in the last years …
So, another London derby for Arsenal, which breathes fresh air under the command of Mikel Arteta. “He learned a lot from Dick Advocaat, Pep Guardiola and Arsene Wenger, and this is seen in the style of play he proposes. He is a smart coach, who looks to cover the field well and knows how to use the skills of his players. Arsenal can get far with him on the bench! ”, Said Paul Merson for Sky, the former red and white midfielder praising the Spanish manager.
Arsenal is changing, at least from the point of view of the attitude on the field. Having become humble and powerless under Emery’s command, the “gunmen” react differently now. “We have to enter the field with the belief that we are the best team in England,” said Arteta last week, and this was seen in the victory with Manchester United (2-0), in the derby of the previous round. Arsenal are only 15th in the top of the missed opportunities this season, being less dangerous than Burnley, Sheffield United, Watford or Newcastle. But the red-and-white game is in progress and focuses on verticalization and quick counter-attacks. With Palace, the “tuners” have a great chance, because Roy Hodgson has no less than 13 important absences!
Besides the suspended Milivojevic (who constantly scores at Arsenal’s gate), Dann, Sakho, Van Aanholt, Ward, Riedewald (all defense!), Townsend, Benteke, Camarasa, Meyer and Zaha are missing. We wonder who sends Hodgson to the field, but it is possible that the last four players mentioned will be recovered in a timely manner. The statistics suggest a first half score, because no goal was scored between 16 and 45 minutes, in the 5 games played by Palace on its own ground this season.
But Arsenal have a great chance to impose their creative game and rely on the dominance of the guests, from the first part. Four months have passed since Arsenal last scored in both halves of a championship match, and the moment seems ideal for stopping this series of inefficiency. With quality attacking players and an inspired Ozil, the “gunmen” can be lethal.
Crystal Palace is undefeated in three stages, but does not convince from an offensive point of view and has only 19 goals scored in 21 matches. From the 9th place, Palace has a single point over Arsenal, which is on the 10th place (goal 28-30), in big seven points. “Tunisians” come after two scoreless wins, with Manchester United (2-0) and Leeds (1-0), while Palace come after draws with Southampton (1-1) and Norwich (1-1) , but also after the failure with Derby (0-1), in the English Cup.
Hosts are declining in shape and guests are on an upward trend, so our choice is natural. We also note that the last five straight duels ended with at least three goals scored and scored by both sides, but the balance was relatively balanced: two victories for Arsenal, one Palace and two draws. The tour was 2-2, when Palace took advantage of the home run, but the dates of the problem are different now.
PROBABLE TEAMS AT CRYSTAL PALACE – ARSENAL
Crystal Palace: Wow; Kelly, Tomkins, Cahill, Woods; McCarthy, Kouyate, McArthur; Ayew, Benteke, Wickham
Arsenal: Leno; Maitland-Niles, Sokratis, Luiz, Kolasinac; Torreira, Xhaka; Pepe, Ozil, Aubameyang; Lacazette
PREDICTION: Arsenal to win @ 1,86
